CyberMinions.net

Wordy C Real Estate Baby Bar 102: The National Data Book

Okay, Newbs... Listen Up: The U.S. Census Bureau can make you sound like a genius if you habitually lurk there (LOL). They will do a lot of preliminary work for you and point you in the direction you need to go when you want to compare your local markets to the national markets and target spots to farm where real estate is hot.

So... tell me... when was the last time you considered and/or reviewed The 2009 Statistical Abstract: Construction & Housing/Housing Sales?

Boring can be beautiful if you want to prove a point by crunching some numbers to use creatively. Don't cut and paste. That's moronic and a waste and I am not going to spend any time lecturing you regarding attribution, plagiarism and copyright issues on this particular post. We can fuss about that later if you'd like (LOL).

What we are going to chat about is getting you OUT of the MLS and INTO collecting your own data so your reports are more relevant. For instance, did you know your MLS habitually doesn't give a crap about For Sale By Owner stats or Buyer's Brokerage stats? It's Listing Agent centric and Association centric so all that "market expert" crap people are indiscriminately touting doesn't amount to a hill of beans if they are not reporting true numbers. Yall need to add some disclaimers to some of the stuff you've been posting here (LOL).

How does one get true numbers if they change and are constantly in flux? By doing the work from scratch and comparing the data in the MLS with the County Clerks and other government clearing houses. No report is perfect but we can all at least try to do better than what some of us have been doing. People tend to emulate the people they admire. I'm anal retentive and I admire meticulous report writers although I spoof a lot and periodically act as if I don't have the sense God gave a stick (LOL).

Do you know why I don't like most of the market reports here? They don't tell me much. Most of 'em are a cut and paste from the MLS and don't follow the money or the deeds to let you in on the trending. I did a couple of cheap notations (maybe 3?) then stopped because I realized they were crap and if I was going to do them then I was going to charge people for my time and talent and really do them. That's why I don't post 'em here. I research the  mortgages and deeds that are filed with the county clerks so I have those missing FSBO data numbers and a host of other points of order the MLS doesn't bother with (LOL).

Since my gal pals are torturing me with pop quizzes, I figured I'd let the newbs in on how we're rolling in my living room (LMAO). Might as well learn something new and pause to consider if you still wanna do what the majority of cut-and-pasters do, or do you want to distinguish yourself and have investment firms call you as a real estate consultant? You can monetize your blog if you step it up a notch. Just sayin...

My second fave spot for collective data for the Wordy C Market Whomps Suckoramameter Index is here: NYC.gov

This is the official website of the City of New York. All of the Mayoral agencies are here in a drop down table on the left and they all post their reports and finding on-line. Did I mention it's all free? Yay! No excuse for not looking up the actual numbers. I'm in their government databases all the time. I send my clients and customers there as well. Statistics aren't trade secrets, they are numerical trends being defined by the researcher. As a researcher how do you want to be defined? As a cut-and-paster or as someone who really understands their chosen market niche? You need several sources to compare before creating a relevant report. Feel free to pick who ever you want.

I love the government because you can't get into too much trouble quoting government figures (LOL). Contrasting what they have and what selective associations have is always interesting, especially when you have something at stake like a pecuniary interest. :-)

You guys need to start collecting your fave government websites to fill in the gaps in your MLS data because if you hook up a particularly lovely reporting style your version of real estate analytics has monetary value. I love NYC.gov because this site has more closing escrow info than all of the MLS operating in New York City combined. Why? Because they track every mortgage filed with the clerks, every transfer tax paid to the clerks, the last five years of market value history of every property with a tax assessment within the confines of the City of New York... yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah - just go play in the site already. I can gush about it all day long  because I really, really like it (LOL). I am not trashing any MLS system. I'm just saying you need more analytical weapons at your disposal if you're going to run with the "I am an expert" crowd. As for me, I'm just a licensed professional doing my job. I know a lot more than I let on but shy away from being called an expert in anything. Tomato, tomaaato, potato, potaaato... the relevant question is can the person you hire get your project done? 

Unless I get a PhD or CCIM, I currently have no intention of posting any alphabet designations behind my name. Yup. Gonna keep you guys guessing as to how many certificates and diplomas are actually in my collection (LOL). I would also love to know why are these damn classes so expensive? I should rant about that later (LOL).

Will I be posting an example of the Wordy C Market Whomps Suckoramameter Index in ActiveRain just to prove a point? Um... er... well... I dunno... Maybe... I've avoided doing that for two years. I have been spoofing about dong a market report here (and have every intention of making it quirky - LOL). Maybe I should, especially since the girls have me working on one right now to show them how to do it (LMAO).

We shall see... Ooooo - Tea break is over. Time to get back to work. I've got several PDFs to highlight. :-)